


Just One Bite (Is All It Takes)

by Charlotte_Lancer



Series: Permanently Unfinished [6]
Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF, Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But not fully AU theyre still car show presenters, Established Relationship, Halloween, Humor, James is a vampire, Light Angst, M/M, Not Beta Read, Richard is a werewolf, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-15 22:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21260648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlotte_Lancer/pseuds/Charlotte_Lancer
Summary: One month into their relationship, Richard accidentally turns Jeremy into a werewolf.





	1. Bitten

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted to get this story started on Halloween.

It’s just past midnight when James’ phone rings, “Richard” flashing in big letters across the screen. He answers it.

“Hello?”

“James, I think I may have, accidentally, um, I- IthinkIbitJeremy.”

James takes a second to process Richard’s panicked rush, and then says;

“Richard, I never though I would say this, but _ please _ tell me you're talking about your sex life.”

“Er, yes, but that’s not what I meant. I may have accidentally turned Jeremy into a werewolf.”

“For fuck’s sake, Hammond, you really don’t do things by halves, do you,” James rubs at his temple, already feeling a headache coming on. “Does he know yet?”

Richard hesitates for a moment. “Well, he knows that I bit him.”

“But not that it’s going to turn him into a werewolf, I assume?”

“Um, it would certainly be a leap on his part, since I sort of haven’t told him about the whole ‘werewolf’ thing yet.” Richard’s voice is shifty, and James has the sudden urge to scream. He takes a deep breath instead.

“You haven’t told him. You, for some reason that I cannot fathom, are sleeping with the man, but you haven’t told him that you’re not, as he thinks, a human. Right.” James tries to keep his tone flat, but more than a hint of disapproval slips through regardless.

“It’s only been a month! And it’s not like he knows that you’re a vampire!” Richard’s voice has a tone that James recognises as ‘I-think-I’ve-just-won-the-argument-ha-take-that’. Unfortunately for Richard,

“Because I’m not sleeping with him! You Are!” James can hear Richard deflate through the phone, and waits a moment before continuing. “Look, do you want me to come over? Help tell him, maybe make it a bit easier to believe?” It was a lot easier for James to get out his fangs than it was for Richard to transform without the aid of a full moon.

“James,” Richard’s voice sounds small, “what if he hates me?”

“He won’t hate you.” James has rarely been so certain of anything. Jeremy is not a subtle man, and it’s been clear for years that his feelings for Richard run far deeper than he likes to let on. James can only imagine how Richard managed to miss it for so long.

“But-” Richard starts to protest.

James cuts him off with, “Richard, Jeremy will not hate you. He will be confused. He will ask ten-thousand questions and make every werewolf joke known to man, but he will get over it.”

“But-”

“Richard. Jeremy loves you. If you cannot see that then I don’t even know what to say.”

“I know, I just… I don’t want to lose him.”

“And you won’t. Come on, Jeremy will probably think it’s great. It’ll give him ammunition to make even _ more _jokes about your new haircut.”

“What’s wrong with- oh, right, ‘pulled through a hedge.’” Richard imitates Jeremy’s voice at the end, doing a startlingly good impression. James can’t help but laugh, and soon Richard is laughing too, some of the tension of earlier relieved.

Eventually, James says, “So do you want me to come by tomorrow? Or would you rather do this alone?”

“Come over, please. We’re at Jeremy’s apartment.”

“Right. I’ll be by around…?”

“Ten.”

“Right. See you at ten.”

“See you at ten. And James?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t picked up.”

“Anytime, Richard.”


	2. Fangs

"So I'm supposed to believe that you're a vampire and Richard's a werewolf," says Jeremy from his seat on the couch. "Right, and I suppose Andy's secretly Frankenstein? Come on, where's the camera?" Jeremy looks around, peering behind James, who is sitting across from him, then around Richard, who is sitting on the same couch as Jeremy, at the opposite end. Richard ducks to allow the inspection, looking a bit pale and a lot uncomfortable.

"Jeremy," James says, and smiles. When he's sure that Jeremy is paying attention, he slides his fangs out slowly, dropping them to their full length.

Jeremy goes even paler than Richard. "Oh."

James retracts them quickly, and says, "Yeah. 'Oh'."

"Right. Right. I’m just going to  _ not  _ think about that.” Jeremy leans his head forward into his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What the fuck,” he mutters, barely audible. He stays still for another moment before sliding his face up in his hand to look at James again. “Right, since you've apparently both kept this a secret the entire time I've known you- though not from each other, I notice- I'm assuming there's a reason you're telling me now. What is it?"

Richard, if possible, looks even more uncomfortable, but James remains silent, trying to urge Richard to tell Jeremy himself.

"Well," Richard begins, shifting slightly further away from Jeremy, "I, um, you know how I might have actually kind of bit you last night?" Jeremy's free hand flies up to the side of his neck. "There's a chance you might be a werewolf now too." Richard seems to shrink into the corner of the couch, awaiting Jeremy's response.

After a moment, Jeremy says, "How much of a chance?"

"I don't actually know. It's not certain, but it's, well, pretty likely."

Jeremy sighs loudly, pressing his face further into his hand. "I need a shower," he says, "and to think about… things." As he stands he mutters 'fucking idiots' quiet enough that he probably thinks James and Richard won't hear. James makes a mental note to tell him about their hearing as soon as possible.

On his way out of the room, Jeremy pauses and lays a hand on Richard's shoulder, and leans down for a quick and chaste kiss before walking out without comment.

Richard is frozen for a moment after Jeremy pulls away, before blinking twice and turning to watch Jeremy make his way down the hallway.

Richard looks a tiny bit more relaxed after the kiss, but James can see that he's still on edge, his fingers clutching at the arm of the couch with alarming desperation.

They sit in tense silence while Jeremy showers. James isn’t sure what to say to calm Richard- isn’t sure that there  _ is  _ anything he could say, at this point.

Jeremy, of course, takes the longest shower James has ever known him to take, and it’s 45 minutes - James is seriously considering going to make sure Jeremy hasn’t drowned- before the water shuts off, and another 10 before Jeremy actually comes back out to the living room.

His hair is still damp when he walks in, the weight of the water making the curls lay flatter than they normally would. He hesitates for a moment when he reaches the couch, but ultimately sits down just a few inches from Richard. James takes this as a good sign, and keeps silent, waiting for either Jeremy of Richard to speak the first word.

Eventually, it’s Jeremy who does.

“So does this mean I’m going to get werewolf powers?” he says to Richard, suddenly grinning. He inspects his hands, as if he’s expecting claws to appear at any moment.

Richard looks a bit taken aback by Jeremy’s sudden change in demeanor, but recovers quickly. “Well, your sense of smell will probably get better, and your hearing. Um, I don’t know if there’s really any  _ powers _ , as such, aside from the whole ‘turning into a wolf’ thing. Oh! You might be able to see better, too.”

“That’s it? Wow, being a werewolf sounds boring.” Jeremy turns to look at James. “Do vampires get better powers? Please tell me vampires get cool powers.”

“Er, about the same really, just swap ‘wolf’ for ‘bat’.” Jeremy looks profoundly disappointed at James’ confirmation of the lameness of being a supernatural entity, and slouches into the back of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You know, I’m still not convinced. We’ve spent quite a lot of time together, including extended stays basically in each others pockets when we’re travelling, and I’ve never noticed either of you turning into animals or, um,” he gestures to James, “ _ eating  _ people.”

James’ face screws up in disgust. “That’s because I  _ don’t, _ Jeremy. Animal blood from the butcher is perfectly fine. And I don’t  _ have  _ to turn into a bat if I don’t want to.”

Jeremy turns back to Richard. “And I’ve seen you on plenty of full moons, and I don’t remember you being a wolf. In fact, last night was a full moon, and I can  _ definitely  _ confirm that all of you was in regular human order.” Jeremy wiggles his eyebrows at Richard, and wow, James did not need to see him make that face, or the blush that comes over Richard in response.

“I don’t know, I’d say I can be an animal in bed,” Richard says, smirking back at Jeremy, who grins.

Richard and Jeremy start to lean towards each other, and James clears his throat. They jump apart with guilty looks on their faces, both suddenly remembering James’ presence.

“Um, right, um, uh,” Richard makes an indecipherable gesture with his hands, clearly trying to remember where the discussion had left off, “Full moons, right. Um, I don’t actually have to change if I don’t want to. It feels kind of  _ weird _ not to, kind of like  _ itchy _ , almost, or like that feeling you get when you’re running really late for something important, but I don’t  _ have  _ to change, it’s still a  _ choice _ .”

Jeremy nods, then narrows his eyes suddenly. “Is this why you like camping so much? So you can go run around as a wolf?”

Richard says nothing, but his expression gives away everything anyway. Jeremy brings a hand to his forehead and laughs quietly for a moment, before reaching out and dragging Richard towards him.

“C’mere,” he says, putting a hand in Richard’s hair and pulling him in for a kiss. Richard leans in eagerly, and soon they’re locked in a passionate kiss, clearly having once again forgot that they weren’t alone in the room.

This time, James steps out of the room quietly, smiling as he passes by the happy couple.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, any and all feed back is welcome. Also, I'm still taking prompts if anyone wants anything.


End file.
